When Coach Karen Graves was hired by Marygrove to head up the Women’s Volleyball Program, in addition to creating an exceptional team of young volleyball players, she wanted to help the young women on her team understand what it means to contribute to the community in which they would most likely spend the next 3 to 4 years living.

Amber Stephens, a senior at Marian High School in Bloomfield Hills, was recently awarded a Presidential Scholarship from Marygrove College. Amber, the daughter of Anita and Albert Stephens of Southfield, hopes to be a pre-med major with a minor in Spanish. The award, which is offered to high school seniors each spring, is renewable for four years, and includes full tuition as well as all fees, books, and supplies.

To qualify for the Presidential Scholarship, candidates need a minimum 3.70 grade point average, along with three letters of recommendation, and an essay that answers the question, “How does your leadership experience align with the three Cs of Marygrove College: competence, commitment, and compassion?”

To hear Jessica Knott and Darrius Washington sing is to hear the voices of angels. And fortunately, these angelic sounds will carry themselves all the way to Italy this summer, thanks to an opportunity for Knott and Washington to perform in the 2010 Vocal Program at the Amalfi Coast Music & Arts Festival in Amalfi, Italy, July 14 – 26, which was funded, in part, by a generous donation from an anonymous Marygrove alumni donor.

They were selected to perform in a summer opera production of Mozart's “The Magic Flute” as well as additional solo performances in select opera scenes—an incredible honor, as there were an unexpectedly high number of applicants this year, making the normally complex audition review process even more selective than usual. Washington will perform the roles of Armored Man/Priest and Knott will perform the role of 2nd Spirit.

Marygrove College president to speak at national forum will discuss educational access for immigrant students

Dr. David J. Fike, Marygrove College’s president, will join a panel of college presidents to discuss the role leaders in higher education play in bringing about social change at a summit organized by The National Forum on Higher Education for the Public Good and The Kellogg Fellows Leadership Alliance (KFLA) to be held April 26-28 in Washington, D.C.

The summit was organized to address the lack of comprehensive institutional policy, practices, and public understanding regarding educational access for immigrant students. It aims to foster increased public understanding of the importance of a policy agenda that addresses higher education policies as they relate to immigrant students in the U.S. It also intends to lay the groundwork for a long-term, multi-interest collaboration among higher education institutions, national associations, foundations and policy leaders to advocate for institutional, state and national policy change.

Marygrove College’s Institute for Arts Infused Education (IAIE), has been trying to get computers into classrooms for a long time because the college believes it’s critical for children to receive a solid education using the arts and modern technology. Now, thanks to the federal program, Computers for Learning (CFL) and several corporate partners, their vision has become a reality.

The CFL program was founded by the federal government to support their mandate for a computer in every K-12 classroom nationwide so that every child has the chance to learn how to use modern technology. Marygrove College’s Institute for Arts Infused Education aims to improve educational achievement, create innovative models for teaching and learning, and promote the systemic integration of the arts into the K-12 core curriculum.

Marygrove is adding track and field as well as men’s and women’s golf to its fast-growing intercollegiate athletic program. The addition brings the total number of intercollegiate sports on the campus to eleven. Last year the College added five sports to its existing men and women’s basketball programs: men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s cross country, and women’s volleyball.

The Track and Field program will be only the second intercollegiate track program in the City of Detroit as well as Wayne County. Marygrove hopes to draw more students to its campus from the large pool of track talent in metro Detroit.

The new program will be headed by current cross country coach, Lee Shaw. Shaw brings a wealth of knowledge to the program and will play a major factor in the success of the College’s distance runners.

The American Cancer Society’s (ACS) annual Relay For Life Detroit will be held for the eighth year on the beautiful grounds of Marygrove College. Relay For Life is a walking event organized to celebrate cancer survivorship and life, as well as bring our community together to learn more about cancer while raising money to help find a cure.

United States Treasurer, Rosie Rios, delivered the main address at Marygrove's 2010 commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 15 to nearly 800 people.

“We’re honored that Ms. Rios delivered the commencement address to our 2010 graduating class,” said Marygrove President David Fike. “As a key federal official with broad experience in economic development issues, I know her message to graduates, their friends and family will remembered.”

Rios, an engaging speaker, spoke candidly about her own experiences growing up as a one of nine children raised by a single mother. She thanked her mother for instilling in all her siblings, the importance of getting a college education: "we all graduated from college," said Rios. She also reflected on a variety of statistics about Millennials, the generation of people born between 1980 and 2000, citing their comfort with communicating through technology as a strength, but encouraging them not to overlook the importance of human-to-human contact. Rios also emphasized the importance of going on to graduate school while students are still young and their minds still flexible. She praised Marygrove's leadership role in being involved in community and helping to teach its students the value of civic and community involvement, and reminded graduates that voting should not be something they take for granted. "Every vote matters," she said.

Rios became Treasurer of the United States in August 2009. In that position she advises the Secretary of the Treasury on monetary matters and serves as a senior advisor and representative of the Treasury on behalf of the Secretary in the areas of community development and public engagement.

Where the Detroit region has been, where we are and where we intend to go.

Marygrove College’s Institute for Detroit Studies, in partnership with New Detroit and Wayne State University, invite journalists, community organizations, government, business, academics and others to a day-long meeting to discuss how we can come together to construct commonly understood paths to defining and resolving Detroit’s problems, and examine how we might share stories that accurately portray Detroit’s current situation and history.

The event will take place on Thursday, March 18, 2010 at 9 a.m. in McGregor Hall and the Community Arts Auditorium, on Wayne State University’s campus. It will contain a morning and afternoon session. Lunch will be provided.